No more faith schools

We want an inclusive education system, free from religious discrimination or proselytization.

We want an open and inclusive education system, free of religious discrimination. A secular approach would see faith-based education phased out and ensure that publicly funded schools are equally welcoming to all children, regardless of their backgrounds. We oppose publicly funded faith schools and campaign for an end to religious discrimination in school admissions.

What’s the problem?

Schools with a religious character or 'faith schools' as they are commonly known, account for around a third of our publicly funded schools in England and Wales. Scottish and Northern Irish schools are still divided along sectarian lines.

We oppose faith schools in principle. Parents are entitled to raise their children within a faith tradition, but they are not entitled to enlist the help of the state to do so. The state should not fund proselytisation or allow the schools it funds to inculcate children into a particular religion.

There are other reasons why organising children's education around religious identities is a bad idea. Separating children along such fundamental lines of difference is divisive and leads to religious, ethnic and socio-economic segregation.

To make matters worse, many faith schools can discriminate against pupils and teachers who do not share the faith of the school.

Despite a consistent and dramatic decline in church attendance, and a growing majority of non-religious citizens, successive governments have paved the way for ever greater religious involvement in education, often to the detriment of inclusive community schools. Data from the House of Commons library shows that the proportion of state faith schools increased in England between 2000 and 2017 - from 35% to 37% at primary level and 16% to 19% at secondary level.

This seriously limits choice for parents who do not want a religious education for their children, or do not share the faith of the local school. Indeed our research has shown that 18,000 families were assigned faith schools against their wishes in England in 2017 alone.

We play a prominent role in the ongoing national debate over the role of religion in schools and regularly lobby MPs and decision makers to promote our vision for a secular and inclusive education system.

We regularly provide support and advice for parents who are experiencing difficulties regarding faith schools, from issues regarding admissions to problems with RE and collective worship. If you're having issues related to religion in schools and would like our support, please contact us.

What you can do:

Write to your MP

Please consider lobbying your MP on faith schools, call on them to support a secular inclusive education system for all.

Challenge a new faith school

If a new faith school is proposed in your local area, or it looks like a religious group is taking over a local non-faith school, you can report it to the No More Faith Schools campaign, and download their free guide to challenging this.

Petition

Please consider supporting one of our petitions on faith schools, to begin the transformation to a secular education system, and to stop plans to increase religious discrimination in free school admissions.

This groundbreaking 2018 report estimates that almost three in ten families across England live in areas where most or all of the closest primary schools are faith schools and thousands are being assigned faith schools against their wishes.

Everybody has the right to an effective education. Parents have a limited right to ensure their religious or philosophical beliefs are respected, but this doesn't require the government to provide or subsidise any specific type of education.

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